Luke Littler secured his first night win of the season by beating home favourite Jonny Clayton 6-4 in an enthralling Night Five final in Cardiff.
The back-to-back world champion had started the campaign slowly and came into the week seventh in the eight-team standings. He recovered from early struggles against Josh Rock to win 6-4 and avoid another early exit. Littler then improved in a semi-final victory over Gerwyn Price, firing three ton-plus finishes and closing out a 6-3 win with a 170 “Big Fish” checkout, before impressing again against Clayton.
The 19-year-old produced a 106.5 average in the final, which yielded 11 maximums. Littler delivered his second 170 of the night and came agonisingly close to a nine-darter, narrowly missing double 15. He also lost the seventh leg despite throwing eight perfect darts, with Clayton holding throw in an 11-darter, but Littler recovered to break back with an 80 checkout in the ninth and held to take the title.
Littler becomes the fifth different nightly winner in the first five weeks of the Premier League season and jumps to third in the standings on nine points. Clayton, who beat Gian van Veen and Luke Humphries to reach the final, extends his lead with a runner-up finish.
In the quarter-finals Littler was outscored by Rock—who posted a 103.72 average—but overcame wayward finishing from the Northern Irishman to prevail 6-4. Van Gerwen slipped out of the top four after being thrashed 6-1 by Luke Humphries, who sits sixth after his semi-final loss to Clayton. Van Veen’s early exit to Clayton leaves him five points off the top; the Dutchman drops to fourth, level on nine points with Price and Littler.
Josh Rock remains rock bottom on zero points after losing all five matches this season. Last week’s winner Stephen Bunting dropped to seventh after being beaten by Price in a final-leg decider. Sky Sports pundit Wayne Mardle said of Rock: “When Josh Rock gets something right, something else goes wrong… He will – it’s just a matter of how long it takes.”
“The table looks good,” Littler told Sky Sports. “It wasn’t looking good in seventh. But it just goes to show, tonight I think I had to focus on myself. Tonight, I’ve done really well and I’m proud of myself. I said in my pre-match interview, every week I felt good, but I’ve just not shown it. Even practising, I’ve been playing well. I’m just glad tonight I could take practice and bring it on to where that’s what I’ve done.”
What’s next: Night Six takes place at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham. Rock will have another opportunity to secure a first victory when he faces Bunting in the opening match. Clayton plays Van Gerwen, Humphries faces Van Veen, and Littler meets Price in a repeat of their Cardiff semi-final.
Watch Night Six live on Thursday March 12 from 7pm on Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports+.